


Close Quarters

by songspinner9



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Bullying, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, PTSD, anxiety attack, those movie moments that are way too real
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-15
Updated: 2016-07-15
Packaged: 2018-07-24 06:13:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7497135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/songspinner9/pseuds/songspinner9
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was just a movie.  A Haus room full of exhausted hockey players and a manager trying to get through a rough semester.  Film moments can be too familiar in a way that Bitty hadn't wanted to think about in a long time, but when you're tired, sometimes things are more Real.  Having your Captain next to you can be useful when that happens.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Close Quarters

**Author's Note:**

> Author Notes: Check, Please! belongs to Ngozi, whose webcomic has invaded my household recently. Also, this is pre-first-kiss, but I am pretty sure that Jack would be the first to recognize when someone he cares about is panicking and heard about the closet incident at some point. (I could have used a Jack in college years ago when I had to abruptly walk out of a film in a theater class…)

“Jack, seriously, dude. Five minutes without you telling us how the designers or writers messed something up. Hush.” Holster elbowed his captain in the ribs to underline his complaint, hard enough to result in a glare.

With a lot of eye-rolls from everyone, they all settled back down to watch the historical drama currently on tv. A certain amount of procrastinating was going on in the Haus after a brutal week of major research papers and a lot of serious practices on the ice, and there was a general agreement that everyone present should at least put off their work for an hour or two together. 

“You have two blankets and it’s cold in here. Gimme, please.”

“Polite or rude, Lardo, make up your mind, for goodness’ sake.” Bitty shook his head in his best imitation of his Moo Maw being judgmental. He tossed her the blanket not currently draped across the four of them on the couch over to where she was curled in a beanbag chair. 

“Rans, c’mon, share with the rest of us please.” 

From Jack’s other side, Bitty reached over to grab a handful of popcorn from the bowl now reclaimed and in Holster’s lap, torn between watching the film on the screen and Jack’s face when their captain got intense. So far, Jack and Lardo had commented (but mostly Jack) on inaccuracies in costuming, weaponry, and whether or not they’d spotted an actor who’d forgotten to take off a too-modern wristwatch before filming a scene. And truth be told, Bitty rather enjoyed discreetly watching Jack’s enthusiasm and occasional outrage for this sort of thing. 

“Okay, I remember they got this part right., though. A lot of the…Ow! Hey!” Jack batted at Holster’s poking fingers while still watching and Bitty, giggling, ducked out of the way of any potential off-ice tussling.

On screen, a mother and two children were ushered into a room and rapidly hidden in a secret space under a bed. As the floorboards were being replaced, the camera stayed under them, highlighting how trapped they must feel. The filmmaker had used sound really well in the scene, picking up the rapid breathing of all three as they waited in panic while boots thumped overhead and shouts rang out. 

Bitty swallowed, hard, suddenly feeling like it was a little too real. The Haus was somehow getting a little fuzzy around the edges and his chest was hurting a little, ears ringing. Flickers of closet in his mind faded in and out with the sound of harsh laughter…or maybe that was on the screen? Tiny beams of dimmed light through the boards or the crack below the closet door...his hands were shaking…had anyone noticed…

A large hand suddenly but very carefully grasped his and Jack was tugging it carefully over and under the blanket where no one could see it, to rest on his chest. Over his heart, Bitty realized through his rising panic, a steady heartbeat and lungs making that wide, well-muscled chest rise and fall….oh.

The deliberate slow breaths. Something to follow, without anyone else noticing…Right. He could do that. Right? Maybe? Jack clearly understood this because he kept… In. Out. Almost but…Jack’s hand pressed a little more firmly, calloused thumb sliding to rest where Bitty’s pounding-in-his-ears pulse was starting to slow down…in. And out. Slowly.

“Ok?” Jack leaned over and murmured softly while pretending to adjust the blanket.

“Y…yeah.” Bitty’s voice shook still, a little, even in whispering. He managed to squeeze Jack’s hand back in wordless thanks for the help and the lack of questions.

“Oh, for…did you see that, Jack?” Lardo cried out from her beanbag chair nest. “Why would they…?”

It made him jump, startled and still sort of on an exhausted hair-trigger, but then Jack released his hand to reach up and over and put one arm around Bitty, tugging him gently over his head rested where his hand had just a moment before. Holster threw popcorn at Lardo, and Bitty finally relaxed again, eyes closing. His head rose and fell with Jack’s breaths, but that wasn’t something he minded just now. 

He listened to and felt the rumble of Jack’s chirping response without really hearing the words, and noticed the couch shaking slightly from Ransom’s laughter. Bitty felt surrounded by a different sort of close quarters, one that didn’t bring panic, because this time, he wasn’t alone. Much better.


End file.
